I Became A Married Man in Another World
Chapter 23
#023 A Rabbit That Is Infinitely Close to a Kangaroo
With a series of thuds, the round logs split and fell to the ground.
For the past few days, whenever Joo-hwan had free time, he had been felling large trees nearby and stacking them in one place. Then, during these awkward gaps of spare time, he would cut them smaller into firewood and store them in the warehouse.
He hadn't known what kind of trees he was cutting at first, but thanks to Gus's teaching, he could now choose trees suitable for fuel. He just had to look at the bark.
At first glance, they all looked like the same skin with the same color, but every tree had a different bark pattern.
Some looked plain, some looked like chewy fish cakes. Others looked pitiful, like a rice paddy cracked by drought. Just as people with eyes, noses, and mouths all look different, Joo-hwan only realized after Gus taught him that trees looked just as distinct.
However, he had no way of knowing if they were oaks or not. He probably wouldn't know until the season for acorns arrived.
The sky, which had been hazy until a moment ago, had brightened before he knew it. Joo-hwan wiped his sweat with the back of his hand and lowered his axe to the ground.
It was about time for Dorothy to wake up. It was Joo-hwan's job to teach the child, who hated cleaning herself, how to use a wooden toothbrush.
While she did everything else with Lizzie, Dorothy would dodge and run away like a little mouse whenever it came to brushing. She seemed to hate it immensely.
But for some reason, if Joo-hwan brushed his teeth, Dorothy would come to his side and mimic him. Seeing this, Lizzie had asked Joo-hwan to supervise the child.
Joo-hwan smirked, remembering how Lizzie used hand gestures and body language to compensate for the language barrier.
'She was cute.'
Lizzie, holding a wooden toothbrush and mimicking the "chika-chika" motion, looked like a child herself. Moreover, she seemed embarrassed by her own actions even while pretending to brush.
Beside her, Dorothy, who mimicked Lizzie's actions because of him, was also adorable.
While waiting for the child to come out, Joo-hwan began the magic training he had been doing every day lately.
Calling it training was a stretch; it was just standing still and thinking, "There is something near my navel," and "I am making that something spin."
At first, he sat properly and struck a plausible pose as if meditating, but he soon realized there was no need for that. No matter how much time passed, he felt nothing. Nothing moved. He was just thinking. He kept doing it because it seemed to have an effect, but sometimes he wondered if there was a more correct way than this.
Furthermore, while he could now easily heal bruises and other minor injuries, not even a fingernail's worth of fire would come out. It felt like it would never happen. He wondered if meditation only worked for healing magic.
Joo-hwan sighed slightly, thought about spinning something in his dantian about three times, and then opened his palm. As usual, he stared at his palm and muttered inwardly.
'Fire.'
Of course, nothing happened. Since he expected it wouldn't work, he wasn't even disappointed anymore. Still, he muttered in his mind one more time.
'Fire Storm.'
Suddenly, he thought that if fire came out, Dorothy would be very happy.
Healing magic is modest. No light comes out when using the magic, nor are there any loud sound effects. The bruise just quietly disappears.
Perhaps because of that, it didn't really feel like magic. Lizzie seemed to think it was amazing, but it had no popularity with Dorothy.
Lizzie seemed to explain something about magic, but Dorothy just answered "yes" or tilted her head. If there's nothing to see, a child won't be impressed.
Just as he was about to lower his hand, feeling slightly disappointed by his still unresponsive palm, the door opened slightly.
Dorothy came outside, rubbing her sleepy eyes. It was a shame. If fire had come out, he would have shown it to the child.
It was at that moment. Suddenly, he felt something spark in his palm, and with a *pop*, fire appeared.
It was small. Very small. A tiny flame, slightly larger than a matchstick's, was attached to his finger.
It was as if his finger had become a lighter. While he felt happy to finally be able to use fire magic, he also felt subtly disappointed.
"...."
Still, it seemed he wouldn't need flint anymore. Well, that was good.
"Pa?"
A strange sound suddenly came from Dorothy's mouth. Dorothy's half-closed eyes gradually widened until they were as round as a full moon.
"Papa! Magic! Fire!"
Realizing the identity of the fire a moment later, Dorothy shouted loudly. The child rushed forward and put her face so close it looked like she would stick her nose into the small flame.
"Dorothy, what if it's hot?"
When he hurriedly pulled his finger back, Dorothy excitedly pulled his arm with her small hands. Then she shouted toward the inside of the house.
"Lizzie! Mama! Mama! Fire! Papa magic!"
With the sound of pattering footsteps, Lizzie came out of the house looking flustered.
Her eyes went wide. With an "Oh my god" expression, she covered her mouth with her hand, and then she too began pouring out words like "magic" and "fire" in excitement.
Lizzie and Dorothy spoke rapidly with Joo-hwan's finger in the center.
"...."
In a world without proper doctors, let alone medical facilities, healing magic should be more impressive than a tiny flame appearing, but perhaps he had thought wrong.
Since Lizzie and Dorothy were so happy, he wanted to try making the fire a bit bigger, but the flame on his finger only grew to about the size of a lighter on its maximum setting. And even that only happened after he focused his mental energy intensely.
He wasn't sure if it was because healing magic was more suited to him or if fire magic was just harder to use. Perhaps it was simply that he could more easily use what he desired more. Maybe it was because he felt healing magic was more urgent than fire.
Anyway, he supposed it was a relief that he could use both now. He hoped he could eventually produce enough fire for a campfire.
Lizzie and Dorothy were happy around his small flame for a while, but soon went off to do their chores. Lizzie to do housework, and Dorothy, out of the blue, to check on the meat.
Left alone, Joo-hwan stared blankly at the fire on his finger.
"...."
How do I turn this off? It wouldn't go out even when he thought "extinguish" in his mind.
After muttering things like "Go out," "Off," and "Vanish," Joo-hwan sighed and shook his hand as if blowing out a match. Fine, I'll just live with it until it goes out.
"...."
It went out.
The magic of this world is a bit strange. He couldn't get a feel for where the switch was.
Joo-hwan waited a moment for Dorothy to come out and brush her teeth, but she didn't come. He wondered if she had fallen back asleep or run away because she didn't want to brush.
When Joo-hwan went into the house, Dorothy was staring silently into the meat container with the lid open. For some reason, she had a slightly sad expression.
Wondering why, he approached her, and Dorothy lifted her head slightly to look at him.
"Meat... small."
"...."
She seemed sad that the amount of meat was gradually decreasing. Lizzie, who was busy working nearby, giggled and laughed.
Whether she heard it or not, Dorothy lowered her head pitifully again and stared into the meat container. Like a tragic actress, her eyes filled with tears in an instant.
Sorry, Papa will definitely catch rabbit meat today.
'Let's do our best.'
*
Gus arrived when the birds were chirping loudly and flying around the mountains. He looked the same as usual. Dressed in worn-out hunter's clothes with a satchel. The difference was that he was carrying a bow and a quiver. Usually, he only carried a knife.
"Bring bow... hunt."
Gus said to Joo-hwan, pointing at his own bow.
A person doesn't need to know a lot to communicate with another person.
If you know a few frequently used words, you can generally understand the meaning.
Joo-hwan nodded to Gus.
He had never used a bow when going to the mountains with Gus until now. At home, he had only practiced shooting at trees with the two arrows Gus had given him. Perhaps he had a talent for it, as he was now a crack shot from a close distance.
Gus had praised Joo-hwan while correcting his archery posture yesterday, and it seemed he thought Joo-hwan was ready now.
"Yes, okay, bow, bring."
After answering using the words he knew, he went into the house. As he had learned from Gus, he kept his only two arrows lying flat rather than standing them up. It seemed that was how arrows had to be maintained.
Joo-hwan took the long bow leaning against one wall, slung it over his back, and hung the bamboo quiver at his waist.
As he put the arrows in the quiver, Lizzie ran over as if she had been waiting and handed him a leather bag. Inside the bag were water and meat dried as tough as semi-dried squid.
The rope that had taken up most of the bag due to its bulk was no longer inside. Joo-hwan hadn't said anything, but it seemed Lizzie had realized that a hunter didn't need a rope.
Dorothy, who had been sad about the dwindling meat, also came running and stood next to Lizzie.
"Papa! Have a safe trip."
As if she had forgotten the sorrow of the meat, Dorothy shouted energetically.
"Right, be a good girl."
"Yes! Dorothy is a good girl!"
"Right."
He learned new words every day. What was a "nice child" yesterday became a "good girl" today. Lizzie didn't interrupt during the brief morning greeting. The greetings Joo-hwan gave to Dorothy when going hunting were taught to him by Dorothy.
Whether she was quite happy to be the teacher, Dorothy seemed to be contemplating every day to teach him new words. The fact that a significant portion of the results were a succession of "good girl," "nice child," and "pretty girl" was probably a reflection of Dorothy's own desires.
When Joo-hwan placed his hand on the child's head and stroked it, Dorothy pushed her head in like a cat. Only after rubbing her head against Joo-hwan's palm several times did Dorothy step back.
After greeting the child, it was Lizzie's turn.
"Be careful."
"Lizzie, you too, be careful."
When he spoke clearly and slowly to avoid mistakes, Lizzie smiled as if he had done well. If his pronunciation was wrong, she corrected him immediately. Thanks to that, his speech had improved a lot.
When he lightly kissed Lizzie's lips, Dorothy, who was beside them, also puckered her lips. She looked just like an octopus. When Joo-hwan leaned down and gave the protruding lips a light peck, for some reason, the smell of meat wafted from the child's mouth. You little rascal, you snuck a bite.
When he glanced at Lizzie's face, she shrugged as if she already knew. It seemed this wasn't the first time. He wondered if she snuck bites even when he wasn't around. Perhaps the reason the meat disappeared so quickly was because of Dorothy.
Joo-hwan greeted Lizzie and Dorothy once more and then stepped outside.
*
The place where the snares were set was deep in the mountains, far from the house.
They had to walk for quite a while.
Before leaving the house, Gus took several arrows from his bamboo quiver and handed them to Joo-hwan.
The ones Joo-hwan had were arrows without tips, but the ones Gus gave him had long iron tips attached.
But it was strange. Usually, wouldn't the tips used for hunting be arrow-shaped? In fact, the arrowheads Gus had were shaped like that.
When Joo-hwan wore a puzzled expression, Gus smirked. He didn't seem to have any intention of explaining. Gus simply continued walking.
Gus's education continued even while heading to the path where the snares were installed. He would point at trees along the way and ask if they could be used for firewood, and sometimes he would stop walking and have him look for rabbit droppings.
When they found rabbit droppings that looked like round balls of mud, Gus made him examine the surrounding terrain once more. "Remember, remember," he would say, and then he would have him look for the droppings of animals other than rabbits. Just as people hunt rabbits, carnivores also hunt the same animals.
Because they spent time like that, a considerable amount of time had passed by the time they arrived at the place where the snares were installed.
As is common in the mountains, it was quiet all around. Only the occasional sound of birds could be heard. So he thought they wouldn't have caught a rabbit this time either. It was too quiet everywhere.
That was why he was startled when he finally stood within sight of the snare.
Caught in the snare was an animal that was quite large and vicious-looking for a rabbit.
The rabbits Joo-hwan knew were cute animals with round faces and slightly short, rounded ears, but the one caught in the snare looked completely different.
Seeing the large, elongated ears, it might be a rabbit.
But those ears were strange. They didn't feel like ears. They were too long and looked grotesque. It was wrong starting from the ears.
The face was the same. There was no roundness at all; yes, it looked exactly like a gangster kangaroo. It felt closer to a kangaroo than a rabbit.
Its legs were also long and thin, completely different from the plump feel of a pet rabbit.
Overall, it was like a rabbit that had evolved into a monster—anyway, that thing was not a rabbit.
'Is it because this is another world?'
Still, he thought it might be a bit of a relief. He didn't think he would hesitate at all to kill it.
